Bouwmeester Signs 3-year Deal With Panthers

SUNRISE — Dan Bouwmeester said last weekend that he had son Jay's car "all lubed up" so he could make the long 325-mile journey from his Edmonton home to Medicine Hat, Alberta.

Well, Jay's dad can happily take the snow tires off the car and ship it to Florida.

Just before Monday's 3 p.m. deadline, Bouwmeester, the third player selected in June's draft, signed a three-year, $3.555 million contract with the Panthers. The deal calls for a $592,500 signing bonus this year and next and a bonus package worth up to $7.1 million over the life of the contract.

That's not too shabby for the 19-year-old, who would have made $240 a month if he had returned to his junior team in Medicine Hat.

"This is a big day for the Florida Panthers," General Manager Rick Dudley said. "I really think this one will go down in memory."

Bouwmeester, considered the best-skating defenseman to be drafted in years, said, "It's good to get it done so I can put it behind me and focus on playing."

In the end, it came down to Bouwmeester's wish to play in the NHL. He lowered his demands, which started at an $8 million bonus package.

"I have a kid who wants to play hockey in the NHL, and now he's going to get the chance to do that," agent Bryon Baltimore said. "I don't think another year of junior would have helped him."

While receiving the rookie cap of $1.185 million per year was essentially a guarantee for somebody drafted as high as Bouwmeester was, the hang-up involved bonuses.

Bouwmeester's package is the highest of any defenseman in the history of entry-level contracts. Columbus' Rostislav Klesla, the fourth pick in the 2000 Draft, previously received the highest package for a defenseman, worth $6.4 million.

The lucrative bonus categories are 10 goals, 25 assists, 40 points, top-four ice time among defensemen, plus-10 or better or top-three among defensemen and top-four in Calder Trophy voting. If Bouwmeester hits two of six in the first year, it acts as a trigger and he receives all the bonuses for that year (about $2.4 million).

In the second year, he must hit three of six; in the third year, four of six. If he doesn't hit his bonuses in a given year, it carries over to the next. The No. 1 pick, Columbus' Rick Nash, also signed Monday. His bonus package is worth a record $8.5 million.

Dudley said it wasn't until late Sunday when he got on a conference call with Baltimore and Panthers Director of Hockey Operations Mike Santos that he felt a deal would get done.

"Before that I wasn't at all sure because we were so far apart," Dudley said. " ... I believe Jay is going to mature very quickly into a top-four defenseman at the very least and if he does that, then we can quite conceivably have a vastly improved defense because we believe Branislav Mezei is blossoming into a top-four defenseman right now."

The Panthers have to finalize their 23-man roster by 3 p.m. today. The Panthers have 13 forwards not including injured Kristian Huselius, two goalies and 10 defensemen. Cutting to eight defensemen would get them to 23 players, but they still may put Ivan Novoseltsev (hand injury) on injured reserve until Thursday's opener to give them a few more days to decide on their defense.

Sandis Ozolinsh, Dmitry Yushkevich, Brad Ference, Mezei and Bouwmeester will make the team. The other three will come from Igor Ulanov, Ivan Majesky, Lance Ward, Mathieu Biron and Lukas Krajicek.

Ulanov has cleared waivers, so he could be sent to the minors. Majesky, Ward and Biron would have to clear waivers to be sent to the minors and Krajicek must either make the team or be returned to his junior team in Peterborough, Ontario.

"[Ulanov] is what he is, a player who probably makes a little more money than we and a lot of other teams would like to pay him," Dudley said. "So our choices are somewhat limited."

It would not be surprising if the Panthers sent Biron and Ulanov, who makes $2 million, to the minors. Dudley made it sound Monday like Majesky and Ward would make the team. He also said he doesn't necessarily think it would be bad for Krajicek to make the team even if his ice time were limited. Like center Stephen Weiss, the Panthers can keep Krajicek for up to nine games and still send him back to his junior team without losing a year on his three-year contract.

Dudley has said that the Panthers don't want to cut a deserving player just because Ulanov occupies a roster spot.